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by: Marge Piercy, Ira Wood
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.3
EAN: 9780967952024
ISBN: 0967952026
Label: Leapfrog Press
Manufacturer: Leapfrog Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 200
Publication Date: August 01, 2001
Publisher: Leapfrog Press
Sales Rank: 655310
Studio: Leapfrog Press
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
For over ten years, Marge Piercy and Ira Wood have been teaching two popular master classes in the art of writing fiction and memoirs. They attract students nationwide who have failed to improve their work in courses concentrating on process' rather than craft, and want to go beyond :journaling' and 'writing as therapy' to break through and publish their work.
Drawing on talks, exercises and examples proven in the classroom, So You Want to Write addresses:
How to begin a piece by seducing your reader,
How to create characters that embody the infinite contradictions of human behavior,
How to master the elements of plotting fiction,
How to create a strategy for telling the story of your life,
How to learn to read critically, like a professional writer,
How to realistically approach publishing.
Combining over seventy years of writing experience, other chapters include:
The overlooked powers of dialogue,
Creating descriptions that move readers emotionally,
FAQ's about agents, rejections, submitting work effectively, what writers really earn,
Overcoming shame and the difficulties of writing about loved ones.
Marge Piercy is the author of 35 books of fiction and poetry. She has lectured or performed at over 300 universities, and sold over 3,000,000 books worldwide. Ira Wood is the author of three novels, a publisher, and a popular writing teacher, whose classes address writers' feelings of hopelessness and despair. They live on Cape Cod.
Two: BEGINNINGS
Fiction is as old a habit of our species as poetry. It goes back to telling a tale, the first perceptions of pattern, and narrative is still about pattern in human life. At core, it answers the question, what then? And then and then and then. And memoir is equally old: it's telling about your life, perhaps originally to children or a prospective mate or a new acquaintance.
Poetry is an art of time, as music is. Rhythms are measured against time: they are measures of time. A poem goes forward a beat at a time as a dance does, step by step, phrase by phrase. Narrative, whether fiction or memoir, is about time. First this, then that.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - As if you were going to die...
Marge Piercy and Ira Wood have been around the block plenty of times, stubbornly making their living out of a love of writing. And a tough living it is, too. While bestselling authors can make megabucks, most writers earn their bread the hard way: "$124,000, and it took four years of my life." You do the math. Nevertheless, Wood and Piercy do not discourage the artist; instead they nurture with motherly advice on agents, and bittersweet tales, such as the story of "Kitchen Man", ... Read More
Rating:  - A wonderful starter book
I have written books for years and can normally get myself past writer's block. The one time that it truly had me stumped, I turned to this book.
I am so glad that I did. The excercizes that they provide are wonderful. Although the theme seems to be more toward writing memoirs, the advice holds true for any fictional writer.
This is a great book for getting back on track. I would reccomend it to those who have written before and need a little reminder of where to begin. It may ... Read More
Rating: - An immediate buy
I wont own this book until about 5 minutes after I write this Review. However, I have known of Marge Piercy for about 21 years--actually I bought my first book of hers Vida totally ignorant, but desperate and unemployed and really needing a book to escape into and buying Vida on a remaindered book table outside of a community college where I was then turned down for a temporary clerical job, a college I now teach writing at. I didn't know that Marge was someone from home, someone who came out of the ... Read More
Rating: - Very Helpful
For writers who are serious about getting published, this book is extremely helpful. It covers everything from the emotional side of being a writer, to the nuts and bolts of submitting a manuscript. Primarily geared towards novelists and writers of memoir, it's also helpful to anyone who takes the art and craft of writing seriously and wants to learn from two successful writers who generously and warmly share their secrets with others.
Rating: - So you want to read about writing
Most of the time, reading books about writing improves one's writing as much as reading *The Joy of Running* improves one's cardivascular system. I have taught fiction to undergrads, and I usually tell them to spend their time at the keyboard rather than reading how-to books, which tend to be either facile or studiously dreamy.
However, *So you want to write* is based on Piercy's and Wood's workshops and exercises, and while no book will substitute for a good workshop, this book is worth your ... Read More
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